Former GM Exec to Head Detroit Schools

Michigan's governor has appointed a former General Motors Corp. executive as the new emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools.

Roy Roberts will take over for Robert Bobb, who was named the school district's emergency financial manager in 2009.

Bobb's contract expired in March but Gov. Rick Snyder extended it through June. Synder announced that he selected Roberts on Wednesday.

Roberts currently is managing director and co-founding member of the private equity investment firm Reliant Equity Investors.

He will take over a school district that has battled financial problems arising in part because of declining enrollment. Detroit has lost about 100,000 students since 1997, when enrollment stood at 175,168. It has about 74,000 students now.